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1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Split Second. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?” Split Second is set in New York City, Manhattan, opening specifically on the side street of 28th and Eleventh Avenue. It is set in the present and begins on July 4th and ends on the 6th. The characters involved are an African American cop, Val, his wife Alea, Willis, the man he shoots, his father Rusty, his friend and fellow Cop Charlie, and their captain, Parker. While on duty, Val corners Willis, for trying to steal an Oldsmobile. After Willis makes several racial slurs and remarks, Val shoots him. He then proceeds to cover it up. The rest of the play is about Val dealing with his actions, and how he will choose to go about doing so.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? Be careful when citing the intrusion, it may not be where you initially think it is. While at first read the intrusion seems to be Val shooting Willis and covering it up, I think further analysis reveals that the real intrusion is when Val comes clean with his wife. She’s the first one he tells the whole story to, and is ultimately the reason he decides to tell his father. His father doesn’t agree with him covering it up, but Alea, his wife, believes its the best way to handle it. This speeds the play up, and Val decides, finally, that he will cover the crime up rather than come clean, because of Alea.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
The unique factor is that this is the day Val, an African-American, on-duty policeman, shoots an unarmed, white male suspect after he cuffed him.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.) Will Val tell the truth or will he cover the crime up? Will Rusty approve of his decision?
5. Use Val to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is, dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what Val wants (NOTE: In Split Second the wants of Val are in flux and he is being swayed by his father, his wife, his friend, and his colleague at work. His wants seem to change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that the character encounters. Me against Myself. It is ultimately Val who causes the trouble for himself, by shooting Willis, an unarmed (and cuffed) perp. He fights against his conscience, which wants him to tell the truth, and his desire to remain a free man. Me against other Individuals. Val is at odds with most of the other characters in this play. He wants to take Willis under arrest, but Willis makes racial slurs and remarks that anger Val and ultimately wins by making him shoot him; Val is also against Parker, his chief. Val wants to cover his crime up as best as he can, but Parker tries to weed him out and catch him in his lies; And finally, Val finds obstacles with his father, who not only doesn’t approve of what Val did, but also wants him to come clean and receive justice for his crime, which is the opposite of what Val wants. Me against Society. Its against the law to do what Val did to Willis. He doesn’t want anyone to know what he really did, because society dictates that he’d go to jail for murder. He wouldn’t be seen as innocent if the whole story went to trial.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Split Second. I think there are two main theatrical moments in Split Second. Most of the play goes by very fast and is full of dialogue, but the most dramatic moments slowed it down, at least for a few beats. The first is at the beginning – it is obviously when Val shoots Willis. After he shoots him, no dialogue is said. Val simply makes a choice to cover up his crime – he uncuffs him, plants the knife, returns the wallet, all the while wiping off his prints. This is so theatrical because the actor must play the cognitive processes occurring within Val’s mind at this moment. The audience has to see him make these decisions to cover his crime. It is one of the most important pieces of information, and it is also just a very theatrical action. By shooting and killing Willis at the start of the play, the audience becomes hooked. The second theatrical moment is at the very end, when Val ultimately decides to stick to his original story and cover the crime up. This is an important piece of information because it answers our dramatic question – will Val tell the truth of his crime or cover it up? He stutters and panics for a moment, and then there is a beat where he collects himself. He looks up slowly and stares straight ahead as he lies to Parker. After that, the playwright writes, “The life seems to have gone out of him.” This is a moment the actor must display to the audience. It also refers to what his father told Alea, that “she would find herself living with a stranger” .
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Split Second. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”) The title, Split Second, expands on how fast the play moves, and the dramatic actions occurs. In a second, Val’s life has changed completely and will set him on a totally different course. The play moves at this increased speed to demonstrate this. The Handcuffs – In the beginning, when Val handcuffs Willis, it is to signify to the audience that he was not a threat. This is why what Val did is so bad, because the handcuffs come up again and again. When he lies, the audience knows because they saw he’d had Willis handcuffed and completely under control. They are an image of the choice he made to shoot Willis. Val being hung up by white boys as a kid – This image expands on why Val might of had the motive to fire at Willis in the first place. Three white boys tied him to a tree and cut his clothes off with a knife. They rubbed poison Ivey all over him and kept him hanging there for five hours. In this story, delivered during a heated conversation, the audience can image Val might still hold a grudge for this happening and it could of been a trigger for him, a reason for committing the crime.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Split Second. Racial justice, law enforcement, gun violence, murder, family, black/white violence
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Split Second? The relationships between Val and his wife, Alea, and his father Rusty have a lot to do with the dramatic action. It is Val’s conversation with Alea that ultimately makes him tell his father of his crime, who disapproves of everything he’s doing to cover it up. It drives the play forward and to its’ finish, where Val decides to side with Alea and refrain from telling the truth on what happened between him and Willis. Without these relationships, I think Val’s conscience would’ve gotten to him and perhaps the events and ending would of been different.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Split Second. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
Split Second is set in New York City, Manhattan, opening specifically on the side street of 28th and Eleventh Avenue. It is set in the present and begins on July 4th and ends on the 6th. The characters involved are an African American cop, Val, his wife Alea, Willis, the man he shoots, his father Rusty, his friend and fellow Cop Charlie, and their captain, Parker. While on duty, Val corners Willis, for trying to steal an Oldsmobile. After Willis makes several racial slurs and remarks, Val shoots him. He then proceeds to cover it up. The rest of the play is about Val dealing with his actions, and how he will choose to go about doing so.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play? Be careful when citing the intrusion, it may not be where you initially think it is.
While at first read the intrusion seems to be Val shooting Willis and covering it up, I think further analysis reveals that the real intrusion is when Val comes clean with his wife. She’s the first one he tells the whole story to, and is ultimately the reason he decides to tell his father. His father doesn’t agree with him covering it up, but Alea, his wife, believes its the best way to handle it. This speeds the play up, and Val decides, finally, that he will cover the crime up rather than come clean, because of Alea.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
The unique factor is that this is the day Val, an African-American, on-duty policeman, shoots an unarmed, white male suspect after he cuffed him.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Will Val tell the truth or will he cover the crime up? Will Rusty approve of his decision?
5. Use Val to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is, dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what Val wants (NOTE: In Split Second the wants of Val are in flux and he is being swayed by his father, his wife, his friend, and his colleague at work. His wants seem to change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that the character encounters.
Me against Myself. It is ultimately Val who causes the trouble for himself, by shooting Willis, an unarmed (and cuffed) perp. He fights against his conscience, which wants him to tell the truth, and his desire to remain a free man.
Me against other Individuals. Val is at odds with most of the other characters in this play. He wants to take Willis under arrest, but Willis makes racial slurs and remarks that anger Val and ultimately wins by making him shoot him; Val is also against Parker, his chief. Val wants to cover his crime up as best as he can, but Parker tries to weed him out and catch him in his lies; And finally, Val finds obstacles with his father, who not only doesn’t approve of what Val did, but also wants him to come clean and receive justice for his crime, which is the opposite of what Val wants.
Me against Society. Its against the law to do what Val did to Willis. He doesn’t want anyone to know what he really did, because society dictates that he’d go to jail for murder. He wouldn’t be seen as innocent if the whole story went to trial.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Split Second.
I think there are two main theatrical moments in Split Second. Most of the play goes by very fast and is full of dialogue, but the most dramatic moments slowed it down, at least for a few beats. The first is at the beginning – it is obviously when Val shoots Willis. After he shoots him, no dialogue is said. Val simply makes a choice to cover up his crime – he uncuffs him, plants the knife, returns the wallet, all the while wiping off his prints. This is so theatrical because the actor must play the cognitive processes occurring within Val’s mind at this moment. The audience has to see him make these decisions to cover his crime. It is one of the most important pieces of information, and it is also just a very theatrical action. By shooting and killing Willis at the start of the play, the audience becomes hooked.
The second theatrical moment is at the very end, when Val ultimately decides to stick to his original story and cover the crime up. This is an important piece of information because it answers our dramatic question – will Val tell the truth of his crime or cover it up? He stutters and panics for a moment, and then there is a beat where he collects himself. He looks up slowly and stares straight ahead as he lies to Parker. After that, the playwright writes, “The life seems to have gone out of him.” This is a moment the actor must display to the audience. It also refers to what his father told Alea, that “she would find herself living with a stranger” .
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Split Second. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
The title, Split Second, expands on how fast the play moves, and the dramatic actions occurs. In a second, Val’s life has changed completely and will set him on a totally different course. The play moves at this increased speed to demonstrate this.
The Handcuffs – In the beginning, when Val handcuffs Willis, it is to signify to the audience that he was not a threat. This is why what Val did is so bad, because the handcuffs come up again and again. When he lies, the audience knows because they saw he’d had Willis handcuffed and completely under control. They are an image of the choice he made to shoot Willis.
Val being hung up by white boys as a kid – This image expands on why Val might of had the motive to fire at Willis in the first place. Three white boys tied him to a tree and cut his clothes off with a knife. They rubbed poison Ivey all over him and kept him hanging there for five hours. In this story, delivered during a heated conversation, the audience can image Val might still hold a grudge for this happening and it could of been a trigger for him, a reason for committing the crime.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Split Second.
Racial justice, law enforcement, gun violence, murder, family, black/white violence
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Split Second?
The relationships between Val and his wife, Alea, and his father Rusty have a lot to do with the dramatic action. It is Val’s conversation with Alea that ultimately makes him tell his father of his crime, who disapproves of everything he’s doing to cover it up. It drives the play forward and to its’ finish, where Val decides to side with Alea and refrain from telling the truth on what happened between him and Willis. Without these relationships, I think Val’s conscience would’ve gotten to him and perhaps the events and ending would of been different.